


Friends In Unexpected Places

by Storytelling_Sparrow



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Español | Spanish, Irish Logan Sanders, Latino Roman Sanders, Logan to the Rescue, Logince - Freeform, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Punk Logic | Logan Sanders, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 10:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18588946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storytelling_Sparrow/pseuds/Storytelling_Sparrow
Summary: Roman moved to a new school and is having trouble until a certain cute nerd offers to help.I wrote this for @sawyer-saucee over on Tumblr





	Friends In Unexpected Places

**Author's Note:**

> There are a few sentences that are in Spanish; translations will be at the end of this fic.

Roman Alvarez was miserable. Today was undoubtedly the worst day of his life. He said as much to mamá. She just sighed and stood from the box she'd been packing. "Aye, mijo, no será tan malo." She gave him a soft smile before waving him away to go pack his things.

 

Roman let out his own sigh, thoughts swirling in his head as he went back to his room. _"It won't be so bad, yeah, sure."_ He tried not to cry as he took down the Broadway posters from his wall. He couldn't bear to look at the pictures of him and his friends when he packed them away; bits and pieces of a life he was leaving behind. He didn't want to leave his room, his childhood home, his friends. _(Okay, so maybe that was a bit dramatic. But really, if ever a situation called for dramatics, this was it.)_

 

But what choice did he have? He was only 16, and he had to finish high school. His mamá had gotten a new job and for that, they had to leave. They weren't even going to be nearby, so chances of visiting were out of the question. They were leaving California; beautiful, sunny California, for Vermont. Which was all the way on the other side of the country! 

 

After he spent a few hours moping and packing, he tried to think of some good things that could come of this move. Unfortunately the list of positives was significantly dwarfed by the negatives. But he could do this. "Hey, maybe Mamá is right. Maybe this move won't be so bad." 

 

He was wrong.

 

***

 

Roman slammed the front door when he came home, throwing his backpack to the floor and collapsing onto the couch, arm thrown over his face. He was grateful that his mamá wouldn't be home for another couple hours, so he was free to pout before getting started on stupid homework he didn't understand.

 

At first he had liked their new town, their new home. His bedroom was much bigger than his old one, and Mamá had a nicer kitchen and a big enough backyard to have a garden. She loved her new job, which paid her much better. Not to mention the town was beautiful, as was the neighborhood. Lots of gorgeous flowering trees which made for great photo ops. Things were going pretty good... until he started school.

 

The high school he went to seemed to be filled with jerks who thought it was hilarious the way Roman would stumble over English words and phrases. He heard the laughs, the teasing, the racist comments. The only thing that stopped him from punching the guy who made a "build the wall" comment was the fact that he didn't want to disappoint Mamá.

 

The only other person in the school who seemed to have an accent was an Irish boy in his grade. He was like a nerdy punk, if there ever was such a thing. Bright red hair, glasses, gauges in his ears, big combat boots with a heel that added to his already significant height. But for some reason, no one ever made fun of that boy. Just Roman, which made him think the worst about his classmates. He sighed. He could already hear Mamá's voice in his head.

 

"Mantenerte fuerte, mijo. Eres mejor que ellos." 

 

Which he supposed was true. But staying strong was hard; especially since he was too afraid to ask for help, since talking aloud was only met with ridicule. He sighed and stood from the couch, taking his backpack to the kitchen with him. He might as well get a snack before starting on his homework.

 

***

 

Roman stared helplessly at the worksheet in front of him. There was no way he could do this. His chest tightened, and he felt the room getting smaller and smaller around him and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take a deep breath. The bell rang and he couldn't get out of the room fast enough. He made a beeline for the bathrooms, which were thankfully empty. He leaned over the sink, trying and failing to make his breaths even.

 

He stayed like that for a few long moments until he heard the door open. Immediately he straightened, shoulders back and head held high. He refused to let anyone see him upset, especially not any of those bullies.

 

But when Roman turned to see who had come in, he saw none other than the Irish boy standing there just inside the doorway. Definitely not who he was expecting. He cleared his throat and nodded his head slightly in greeting, not quite trusting his voice.

 

The other boy took a step forward, holding out a piece of paper. "Esto es tuyo."

 

Roman's eyes widened in disbelief. The Spanish sounded so odd coming from someone with an Irish accent, but odd in a good way. He took his worksheet and put it in his backpack. When he looked back up, Logan was holding out his hand. Roman hesitated, but took it. 

 

"Nice to meet you. I'm Logan." 

 

"Roman. Thank you for... Thanks." He stumbled over the words. He didn't know how he missed it before, but this boy was _cute._ "You speak Spanish?" He couldn't keep the awe from his voice.

 

Logan laughed good-naturedly, his blue eyes sparkling. "Yeah, I want to be fluent in 7 languages. But are you okay?"

 

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing about that interesting fact. He only shook his head. "The homework is hard. I... I'm having problems." Which was an understatement, but he didn't know what else to say. Logan looked at him curiously, then grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket. He hastily wrote something down before giving it to Roman. 

 

"Call me. I'll help you with homework." Roman blushed and nodded, staring at the phone number Logan had written down.

 

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks, Logan." He ran a hand through his black hair, hoping he looked just as cute as the boy before him.

 

Logan gave a warm smile, and Roman could have sworn he felt his heart skip. "No problem. From now on, I'll have your back." He repeated himself in Spanish, then began to head for the door.

 

Roman grinned and before he could lose the nerve, called out "Eres muy linda. For a white boy."

 

Logan laughed at that, and turned to give Roman a wink before the door closed.

 

Roman's heart was pounding wildly, and he stood there staring at the door. He stuck the paper with Logan's phone number in his pocket, grabbed his backpack and rushed out of the school and towards home. He had to call and tell his cousin Virgil about this delightful yet unexpected turn of events.

**Author's Note:**

> 1) mijo, no será tan malo - Son, it won't be so bad  
> 2) Mantenerte fuerte, mijo. Eres mejor que ellos - Stay strong, son. You're better than them  
> 3) Esto es tuyo - This is yours  
> 4) Eres muy linda - You're pretty cute


End file.
